The present invention generally relates to dough processing machines. More specifically, the invention relates to a machine that divides a mass of dough into smaller uniform quantities. The invention provides an improvement to such a machine.
For producing baked products in large quantities, bakeries use machinery for automating various processes. For instance, various equipment is used for manipulating dough. One such machine is a dough divider, which apportions a large quantity of dough into slugs of smaller, uniform amounts of dough. These slugs of dough can then be formed and cooked into bagels, rolls, pitas, pizza crusts or a variety of other baked goods.
A dough divider can be arranged with other equipment. For example, a dough divider can be arranged so that the output goes into a dough rounder, which forms a slug of dough into a rounded shape. Slugs of dough can also be placed in a roller device for shaping bagels. Conveyor belts are often used for carrying dough from one machine to another for performing various processes.
A dough divider has a reciprocating plastic piston which draws dough from a reservoir into a metal cylinder through a tube on a piston downstroke. The piston then pushes the dough into a measuring cup from which a measured amount of dough, or slug, is removed. The process repeats, dividing dough into multiple smaller, uniform slugs.
Dough is a substance which can stick to metal and plastic surfaces, such as the piston and cylinder components of a dough divider. Such sticking can cause a dough divider to become bogged down, requiring cleaning before continued use. Furthermore, in a processing line of automated equipment, an entire processing line can be halted if a dough divider must be cleaned frequently.
To help prevent dough from sticking to the parts inside a dough divider, oil can be injected to provide lubrication of the dough contacting parts such as the piston and cylinder. In known dough dividers, oil has been injected through a port in the vertical cylinder wall. However, a port in that location can become clogged with dough, blocking the injection of oil and requiring cleaning before the divider can continue operating. A need, therefore, exists for a dough divider with a lubrication system which is resistant to clogging.